Reno and Son: Don't Mess with Jim (The Mob Boss Series) by Mallory Monroe

doing now, I can sort of see what he meant.”
    “It’s the truth.   She favors you.   And you know how he loves that.   He thinks you’re the best looking woman ever
created, and Sophie is the second best.”
    Trina laughed. “He does not.”
    “Yes, he does.”
    Trina shook her head.   Then her cell phone began ringing.   The phone was on the table and she looked at
the Caller ID.   “No thanks,” she said,
deciding not to answer it.
    “Who is it?” Fran asked.
    “Liz.   It’s too damn early.   I’ll talk to
her later.”
    “Oh, yeah, you guys had your event last
night.   How did it go?”
    “Great actually.   Attendance was excellent.   We raised a lot of money.   I have no complaints.   Even the females behaved.   Or at least most of them.”
    Fran looked at her.   “I heard some of Reno’s throwaways were
there.”
    Trina continued to bird-eat.   “Oh, yeah?”
    Fran smiled.   “It doesn’t bother you, does it?”
    “Yeah, it bothers me, but it can’t be
helped.   Reno has lived in Vegas since he
was eighteen years old.   He has a lot of
ex-girlfriends. Just the way it is.”
    “Yeah, and some that ain’t claiming to be
ex.”
    “Whatever Fran.”
    “I’m just sayin’.”
    “If I listen to what people say all the
time that’s all I’ll do is listen to people.   So say whatever you want, but I know who I’m married to.”
    “Mind my business, in other words?”
    “No other words,” Trina said.   “In those exact words.”
    Fran laughed and chomped down on more
bacon.   Trina continued to bird-eat.
      Fran shook her head.   “I don’t
know why you’re starving yourself when you don’t have to.   Reno hates it and you don’t need to.”
    “Don’t tell me what I don’t need.   It’s been six months and I still haven’t lost
all of my baby weight.”
    “But why are you turning it into such a big
deal?   Reno likes your fat ass now.   He likes you with meat on your bones.”
    Trina laughed.   “Not this much meat,” she said.
    “You are not big and you know it.   You’re still small.   Not as small as what you used to be, but
you’re still fine.   And Reno likes you
just the way you are.”
    “That’s only because he thinks having this
extra weight makes me healthier.   But I
don’t feel healthier.   I just feel
big.”   Then Trina looked at her younger
sister-in-law.   “Unlike some of us,” she
said, “who can eat whole hogs and still not gain a pound.”
    “I know!   It’s like I’m a freak of nature or something.   Girls are so jealous of me because of it, but
what can I say?   It’s not my doing.   It is what it is.”
    “Until it’s not,” Trina said, smiling
too.   “So don’t get too cocky, Miss
Freak.   Metabolism has a way of slowing
as you age.   All of those bad habits of
eating like a pig are going to catch up with your skinny behind and then you’ll
see what it feels like.”
    “Ah, Tree, you know you love me.   You know if I get so big they have to cut a
hole through my apartment to get me out of there, you’ll be right there
encouraging me and standing by me and telling me that everything’s going to be
all right.   Say it ain’t so.”
      Trina couldn’t lie, so she didn’t say a thing.
    Fran laughed.   “Told you.   A friend indeed.   That’s you,
Tree.”  
    “That’s my mama,” Dommi said proudly as he
sipped more juice, although he wasn’t quite sure what they were talking
about.   Then he added to his mother: “Can
I have a biscuit now?”
    Trina reached for his juice bottle and
shook it.   She was satisfied that a
sufficient amount had been consumed.   “You may,” she said.
    Dommi smiled grandly and grabbed for a
biscuit.  
    Fran looked at Trina.   “So what happened last night?   With Jimmy, I mean?”
    Trina wasn’t about to discuss it with Dommi
staring down her throat.   Anytime the
topic was about his big brother, he was all ears.   He and Jimmy had a special